the rich voices e-consultation method

 

 

  • The commissioning organisation decides on the reason for the consultation process (e.g. to establish local experiences of service provision; to market-test or provide development information for a new product; to consult local people on developments in their area).

  • The commissioning organisation identifies a number of points for discussion and specifies the desired number of participants along with any demographic particulars.
    • The rich voices consultants then identify the requisite number of suitable participants, group them into teams, and ensure suitable access to email and initiate training.


    • The rich voices moderator enables group discussions by email over a specified and agreed period to ensure valuable and relevant information is elicited. Representatives from the commissioning organisation may be a party to the output of these discussions so that further points can be put to the groups if required.

    • The use of email allows a complete, tracked and monitored record of the e-consultation process for future reference. Final analysis and reporting can be done either by the rich voices consultants or by the commissioning organisation as desired.

     

    Further positives

    • All email conferencing in the e-consultation method is moderated, to ensure that the discussion stays on-track to meet the objectives of the commissioning organisation.
    • The rich voices e-consultation process shows definite cost benefit over traditional methods, eliminating as it does the production, postage, telephone and travelling costs associated with traditional consultation methods.
    • Free internet access can be provided for participants in the UK. The asynchronous nature of email conferencing ensures that other online costs are kept to a minimum.
    • Once established an e-consultation group can be re-consulted at times appropriate for the commissioning organisation. Individual experienced participants can be combined with members of other e-consultation groups for further consultation on a diverse range of subjects.